The Best Marketing Ideas of the Week

In its continued quest to make the service better and easier for brands to use, Twitter has rolled out two new features that business owners might find useful.

First, if your Twitter inbox suddenly becomes full of direct messages, don't be alarmed. You probably haven't been spammed. Twitter has quietly released a new feature that allows Twitter users to receive direct messages from anyone who follows them.

While your personal Twitter account might not see a flux in direct messages, your company's official Twitter account might. The new feature was likely created so that businesses can receive private messages from their customers and other people who follow them on the social network, the Verge reported.

Yesterday, Twitter also announced a feature that allows users and brands using Twitter's advertising products to schedule tweets, including promoted tweets. Businesses can create and schedule tweets up to a year in advance from the blue Tweet button on the top right corner of the navigation bar at ads.twitter.com or from the "Creatives" tab in the top navigation bar next to Campaigns and Analytics.

In the lead-up and aftermath of filing for its IPO, Twitter has announced a number of changes and new features -- especially ones geared at businesses and TV partners. Just last week Twitter said Comcast pay-TV subscribers will be able to use the social network to watch and record programs aired by Comcast-owned NBC Universal. Tweets about certain shows -- such as The Voice and Sunday Night Football --will include a "See It" button in the expanded tweet that users can click on and watch those programs.